Misdirection
by LuckyDucky20
Summary: Scully starts getting gifts from what appears to be a secret admirer, but it kind of makes her feel uneasy. Mulder, on the other hand, just seems a bit jealous.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Hopefully, this will be a short story. Just got an idea and had to get it out before I can continue with my novel of a story (for me) _More Than That_. Takes place sometime in season five (because that's my favorite!). Post-Scully cancer and pre-Spender.

...stupid disclaimers... OBVIOUSLY, I don't own any X-Files characters. I was, like, 10 when the show began! I barely owned more than a Boyz II Men cassette tape!

* * *

Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully diligently worked at their desks (well, Mulder at his desk and Scully in her "area"). They were doing paperwork for a case that involved, to Mulder, a warlock (or magical being), and to Scully, a man who was crazy and just happened to have a series of lucky coincidences. Until he got caught, that is.

The silence in the room was a comfortable one. Every now and then Mulder would leave his desk, walk to Scully's, take a paperclip, post-it, or another office utensil, and walk back to his desk to resume his work. Scully quit asking him weeks ago (heck, maybe months ago) if he would like for her to order him some more supplies so he didn't have to steal hers. He, of course, had said that he needed the distraction of getting up every so often that even if she were to get him his own supplies he would still have kept them at her desk. So, she gave up. It wasn't like having Mulder walking back and forth between their desks was distracting to her... Okay, is _was_ a bit distracting to her. Even though he had been doing it for a while, she couldn't help but to look up at him each time he neared her desk.

On his fifth trip towards her desk in the paperwork session after lunch, there was a soft knock at the door. The two agents exchanged a quizzical look before Mulder changed his current walking path to go for the door. He pulled it open and a slightly nervous looking teenage boy stood there. He was holding a vase of flowers.

"Um..." he began nervously, "I was told that I could find an Agent Scully down here?"

Mulder stepped back and motioned to his shocked partner behind her desk.

The boy slowly and cautiously entered the room, acting as if he were stepping into a trap. Scully slowly stood from her desk, eying the flowers skeptically, as if someone had made a mistake.

Mulder was amused by the kid's reservations, and couldn't help but to tease him a bit.

"How did you get down here? This is an agents-only area. _Highly_ classified."

"Mulder..." Scully chided, slapping his arm. "Pay no attention to him," she told the kid.

The boy handed Scully the vase of flowers, keeping his terrified eyes on Mulder.

"There's no card," Scully said.

The boy shrugged and quickly left, throwing a glance over his shoulder at Mulder, as if he was afraid that Mulder would follow him.

"Where are mine?" Mulder called after the boy before closing the door to the office. He then turned his attention back to his partner. "New boyfriend, Scully?"

"No, Mulder. Like I said, there's no card. I have no clue who these are from."

"Uh-huh," Mulder said, glancing from her to the flowers and back again.

Scully couldn't be sure, but she thought that there was a hint of jealousy in those hazel eyes of his. She smiled and decided to call him out on it.

"Are you jealous, Mulder?" she asked, giving him her famous raised-eyebrow look.

"Of course! I want to know where mine are!" he said, walking back over to his desk and sitting on it.

Scully followed him with her eyes as she went back to her own desk. She placed the vase on the corner of her desk and stepped back to study it. It was a colorful bouquet of roses, daisies, daffodils, and lilies. Probably very expensive.

"I really have no clue of who could have sent me these," she said, more to herself but also for Mulder's benefit. She wanted to make sure that he knew that there was no reason for him to be jealous.

Scully glanced over at him. His eyes were still staring the flowers down, as if he were in a staring contest with them. There was still a hint of jealousy in his eyes. She really wasn't sure if he was jealous that she may have a potential secret admirer out there or that she was getting attention instead of him. Either way she couldn't help the small smile that had taken up residence on her face.

"Well, someone out there seems to think fairly highly of me!" Scully couldn't help rubbing it in a bit. "They _are_ beautiful," she added.

"Yep," he agreed. "Can we get back to work now? I would like to get home at a descent hour for once..."

Scully looked over at him, her smile growing bigger at his sudden change in mood. _He just can't wait to get out of this office with those flowers staring at him_, she thought.

"Yeah, no problem, Mulder," she said, sitting back down behind her desk.

Mulder walked over and took all of the post-its off of her desk before going back to his. She sighed and opened a new package for herself. _I guess there will be no more walking back and forth today!_ she thought, still wearing a smile.

"Hey, Mulder?"

"Hmm?" he replied, not taking his eyes off of his work.

"Are you still coming over for dinner tonight?"

He looked up at her a bit shocked. "Of course. Unless the flowers have talked you into disinviting me..."

"First of all, I'm not sure that 'disinviting' is a word. Secondly, the flowers are doomed to live in this office until they die. They are very pretty, but I don't want them to come between me and my best friend."

Mulder couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "I'll be there. 8 o'clock on the dot."

"So, about 8:45, then?" she grinned back.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: *chirp* *chirp* Either you all hate it or it's SO amazing that my readers are wordless! I'll choose the believe the latter... Just wondering if I should keep going? Here's chapter two! Heck I may just get all of the chapters up today whether or not anyone actually reads it!

* * *

A knock alerted Scully that Mulder had arrived. She checked her watch. 8:26pm. _Late, yet early!_ she thought, opening the door to let her friend into her apartment.

Mulder gave her a big smile as he entered. She gave him a quizzical look. He answered by showing her that he had brought a box of wine with him.

"Boxed wine, Mulder?" she laughed.

"What can I say, I'm classy like that," he told her, setting the box on the counter.

Scully was thankful that tomorrow was Saturday. She just knew that the box o' wine had a hangover ready and waiting for her.

"I'm not quite sure whether or not to be impressed. You're early, for _you,_ and you brought something... even if it is a five dollar box of merlot. How thoughtful, Mulder."

"I'm competing with flowers now to keep your attention. I thought that wine was a good answer to flowers," he told her, removing his jacket and tossing it into a chair.

Scully was always good at blocking Mulder's cheesy pick-up lines and sexual innuendos, but she had a hard time when he sounded so serious. So, she just ignored the comment and pulled two stemless wine glasses down from her cabinet.

Mulder immediately took the glasses from her. "Allow me, madamoiselle," he said in a pathetically bad french accent. He filled both glasses halfway with the cheap wine. He swirled his glass around, took a comically big sniff of the liquid, and then quickly took a dainty sip. "Not too bad! For boxed wine..." he admitted.

He handed Scully her glass. She kept her eyes on him as she took a small sip. She immediately started sputtering and couching.

"Really?" Mulder asked. He sounded worried and put his glass down to put that, now free, hand on her back.

When Scully felt the warmth of his touch, she stopped coughing and a small smile crept to her lips. "Gotcha," she said calmly, though she inched away from him.

"You little-" he began, as he quickly reached for her; however, his hand knocked into her glass, spilling the red liquid down the front of her suit. Luckily, she was wearing her navy blue suit today.

Mulder immediately stopped and covered his mouth with his hands. He was desperately trying to keep his laugh inside. He didn't want to piss off prim and proper Scully. However, he wasn't sure if he would be more terrified if she was furious or if she started to cry. _I can't handle crying_, he decided to himself.

Surprisingly enough, Scully started laughing. So he let himself laugh as well.

"Th-the look on your face!" she laughed. "It's okay, Mulder, I've had worse on me!" she told him, grabbing a small dishtowel.

"I bet..." he said looking her up and down.

"Stop being perverted," she told him and tossed him the dishtowel. "Clean this up," she added, pointing to the wine on the floor. "I'm going to change."

Mulder grinned and dropped the towel onto the wine on the floor and began to wipe with his foot. Scully headed to her bedroom. It took no time for either of the to clean up. Scully returned wearing black yoga pants and a thermal baby blue top.

_Look at those curves! She'd put the Formula One Grand Prix to shame!_ he thought.

"We have about ten more minutes before the food is ready," she informed him, completely oblivious to Mulder's wandering eyes. She began to refill her half-empty glass.

He tore his eyes away from her body, downed the rest of his wine, and joined her to get a refill.

"Want to play a game?" he asked.

Scully looked at him skeptically. "What kind of game?" she asked dryly. "I'm not removing any clothing items!" she warned him.

"Scully! What kind of a man do you take me for?" he clutched his chest where he believed his heart would be. She crossed her arms and stared at him, giving him a knowing look. "Okay. Okay, you're probably wise for that provision. But no worries, clothes _are_ optional..."

"Mulder..." she sighed. "Clothes are obligatory," she told him.

"I'm just teasing you, Scully. Clothes have nothing to do with it," he said, leaning on the counter. "Have you ever played 'I Never'?"

"No..."

"What? How long were you in med school? And you never played?"

"Can you hear yourself? Med school, Mulder. I was in _medical _school! I was way too busy dissecting corpses to play games!"

"Well, I played it loads of times while in _psych_ school. Then again, I guess we cared what was on the minds of men..."

Scully sighed, giving into his request for playing a game. "How do we play?"

"Well," Mulder began, "we each have a drink," he lifted his in a sort of 'cheers' to her, "one of us states a fact. Like... I've never had a secret admirer send me flowers. So, you drink, because you have. Understand?"

"I think so. If you _have_ done whatever ever action is in question, you drink. If not, you do nothing?"

"Correct. I always knew you were a quick learner, Scully," he said brightly. "But I must add another rule to the game. If I, for example, what you to elaborate on an affirmative answer, then you must enlighten me. However, if you refuse to go on, all you have to do is take another drink, and I have to drop my search for your truth."

Scully rolled her eyes, but agreed to the game. She began to rack her brains with questions for Mulder as she took their dinner out of the oven. Mulder already had questions on his mind; however, he was sure that she would NOT be answering them. He downed another glass of wine in no time, and he helped Scully plate up their dinner. Soon the game was to begin!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! You all earn another chapter! **  
**

* * *

Scully and Mulder had found a comfortable place on the floor to sit. She didn't want any wine spilled on the furniture. Scully was sitting cross-legged with her back against the front of her couch. She had a thin red blanket covering her lap. Mulder was sitting with his legs stretched out in a 'v' in front of him. His back was resting against the front of Scully's chair, to the right of the couch.

"That was a weak I've Never, Scully!" Mulder exclaimed, taking a sip of his wine. "Of course I've been skinny dipping!"

Scully gave him a little smirk and took a drink of her own wine.

"Ah, I see, Dr. Scully... You've done a little nude swimming yourself. Any pools around here...?"

"Mulder," she scolded.

_There he goes again_, she thought. Mulder found that flirting with Scully was his best form of entertainment. Way better than his collection of videos hidden under his bed. However, if she ever flirted back, he wouldn't be quite sure what to do about it. He'd be too shocked.

"Okay, I've Never... done anything that my parents would be ashamed of," Mulder offered.

Scully took a small sip.

"Really? What did you do?"

Scully took another drink.

"_That_ bad, then? You know I won't leave it be until you tell me..."

"Nope! You said that if I didn't want to share then I could just drink. I'm not telling _you_, so get over it!"

"Did your parents find out?" he asked.

"No! Absolutely not! And they never will!"

"I will get it out of you somehow..." he warned.

Scully ignored Mulder and continued with her own statement, though she already knew the answer. "I've Never been arrested."

Mulder smiled and took a big gulp. "I've been arrested a lot. Come on Scully, get me on something better then that!"

"Fine. I've Never had a one night stand."

"There ya go..." Mulder smiled and took a drink.

Scully looked a bit embarrassed now. "How many?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

Mulder took a drink. "A gentleman never tells... Though, I will tell you, only one since you've been my partner."

Scully nodded. She didn't know why Mulder chose to tell her that, and she didn't really know what to think about it.

"I've Never cheated on someone I've dated," Mulder continued on to fill the sudden silence.

Scully's cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink as she took the tiniest of sips.

"You? A cheater? No..." Mulder was shocked. He thought that this would be the one topic that neither of them would drink on. Apparently he was wrong.

"Well, I-" she began defensively, but quickly decided to not dig her hole deeper. "It was a long time ago," was her only explanation.

"I guess that's what your parents would be ashamed of, am I right?"

Scully took another sip.

"Well, I always knew that you had a little rebel in you," Mulder said, trying to lighten her embarrassment. "I mean, you do run around with me when we're supposed to be good little agents..."

"I mainly run around with you for _my_ sanity and _your_ safety!"

"_Your_ sanity?" he questioned skeptically.

"You know that I'd go a little crazy if something bad ever happened to you. You're my best friend, Mulder. You're practically my only friend!"

"I don't know about that... I'm sure that Skinner would be better suited for shopping trips and spa vacations," he joked, giving her a big smile.

Scully gave him a small smile. However, she hated that whenever they got into serious conversations about their feelings he would always make it into a joking matter. She knew that he had a hard time talking about his feelings. Actually, he never talked about his feelings. He'd either deflect the questions, or he'd keep his feelings inside until he blew up. This usually resulted in him crying or beating up someone, usually Krycek.

Scully understood, though. She was similar to him when it came to talking about what she was feeling. She always kept it inside. However, unlike Mulder, she rarely ever blew up. She just pushed whatever she felt so far down that it eventually disappeared. For a little while at least.

"I'm sure that you would _love_ a spa vacation, Mulder," she said, giving in to his unwillingness to be serious. "I'm sure you could get a massage from a leggy blond Swedish girl. It would be like one of your videos had come true!"

"Only if she massaged me-"

"Okay! Don't wanna hear it!" Scully cut him off, snatching his wine glass. "It's time for refills."

Mulder watched Scully walk back into the kitchen to fill their glasses up.

"We should do this more often," he called around the couch to her.

"What? Me feed you, us drink wine, or you ask me inappropriate questions?" she asked, coming back into the room. She handed him his glass and sat back down in her spot.

"All of the above," he answered. "However, I guess I could feed you sometimes, and you could ask me inappropriate questions. It's just nice to hang out, you know, without our lives being in danger."

"Yeah, it is," she agreed, drinking some of her wine.

Several "I've Never" questions and glasses of wine later, Scully noticed the time.

"Oh my gosh, it's after 1am!"

"Really? I guess I better get going!" Mulder said, glancing at his watch.

"Are you crazy, Mulder? You can stay here. I don't want you to drive home."

"You wanna cuddle?" he half-joked, raising his eyebrows. He didn't even pretend like he was going to argue about going home. He didn't really want to anyway.

"Ha, in your dreams! It's a good thing that you're used to sleeping on a couch because that's where you'll be tonight," she told him, standing and tossing him the blanket that she had been practically wrapped in all night. "Do you need a heavier blanket then that?" she asked, not wanting him to get cold during the night.

"No, but a pillow would be nice," he said, standing up to flop down onto the couch.

Scully went into her room to retrieve an extra pillow from her bed. She returned seconds later.

"Please don't drool on this," she said, slightly pleading, and tossed the pillow onto his face.

"I'll _try_ not to, but no guarantees," he told her, shoving the pillow under his head.

"Are you sure you won't get cold?"

"Scully, I'm a human space-heater. I promise I won't get cold. Stop worrying and go to bed!"

"Okay..." she said reluctantly. "Goodnight, Mulder."

"Night, Scully," he replied.

She took one more look at him, as if she wanted to force about six more blankets upon him. Scully then patted his head, flipped off the light switch, and headed to bed.

Mulder rolled his eyes at her worrying and snuggled into the pillow. He smiled, and cuddled the pillow closer. It smelled like Scully. If he couldn't cuddle her, he would cuddle her scent! With Mulder all cuddled in and content, it didn't take long for sleep to take over.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! You all earn another chapter! Sorry if my posting of chapters is slow. I never really write on the weekends, and I just started a new job (as in today)!

I think Agent Pendrell died in season four, but for the purposes of this story he's alive and well and still in the FBI.**  
**

* * *

Mulder woke to the smell of frying eggs and peeked over the back of the couch to see Scully busily working on breakfast in the kitchen. She was, at the moment, buttering toast. _I could get used to this,_ he thought.

Mulder noticed that another blanket had been added on top of him. He also noticed that, most likely due to Scully burying him in blankets, he had shed his shirt sometime in the middle of the night. He smiled to himself and shook his head at the thought of her tucking him in. He then quickly kicked his way free of the blankets and pushed himself off of the couch.

"Morning, Scully," he greeted her, walking into the kitchen area.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked. Though, she didn't appear to be_ that _sorry.

"Uh, no. I don't think so. I think that my stomach woke me. That smells good," he told her, opening the fridge to look for something non-alcoholic to drink.

"Orange juice is on the door, and water is in the blue pitcher," she told him, knowingly.

He smiled and pulled out the orange juice.

"Coffee?" he questioned.

"In the pot," she replied, pointing to the counter with a buttery knife.

"What time is it?" he asked, squinting at his watch.

"Around 10," she answered, sounding way too chipper.

Mulder sat down and crossed his arms on the table. He then put his forehead on his forearm and his face in the hollow made by his arms. Then he groaned.

"I feel like shit," he stated.

"Well, you pretty much single-handedly drank about half of the box of wine. And wine hangovers are the worst," she informed him, smiling to herself.

"But you drank a lot too, and you look ready for work!" he complained.

"Well, while you were taking monster gulps and practically chugging whole glasses, I was taking small sips and supplementing water when I could," she explained, plating up some eggs and two strips of bacon.

"You had water?" he asked, looking up at her, his chin resting on his forearm. "I didn't see any water."

"You also didn't see how drunk you- _we_ were getting. I grabbed some water during one of the many refills."

"And you didn't get me any?"

"Nope. You didn't ask," she said, putting the plate in front of him.

"You're a crappy doctor, Scully. Did you make all of your patients ask for whatever you knew they needed?"

"No. And you're not my patient. You're my partner and a grown man who can make his own decisions," she told him, smiling and fixing herself a plate. "Besides," she added, sitting across from him, "this is entertaining for me."

Mulder glared at her and stabbed his eggs with his fork. He was happy, however, that it was only a headache hangover and not worse. And he was happy that Scully was nice enough to feed him again.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, his mouth full of eggs.

"Oh. Uh... I didn't know that you wanted to spend the day with me today too. I mean, it's Saturday, Mulder, haven't you had enough of me yet?" she asked, taking of sip of coffee from her steaming mug.

"Have you had enough of me?" he countered.

"Hmm, I'm not sure that I can ever have enough of you!" she laughed.

"Really...?" Mulder raised his eyebrows.

"Not like that!" Scully quickly said, blushing. "Dirty mind..." she then muttered.

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked again.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. I haven't thought about it," Scully said, tapping her bottom lip with her fork.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Scully gave Mulder a puzzled look and rose from the table.

"Weird, you're the only person who bothers me this early on Saturdays... And you're already here," she told him, tightening her robe and heading towards the door.

Mulder stood as well, inching towards his gun. Scully stood on her tip-toes and looked through the peephole. She didn't see anyone. She pulled the door open and looked both ways down the hall. Then she looked down. Sitting on her 'welcome' mat was what appeared to be a present. Scully picked up the thin rectangular box and brought it inside. She kicked the door closed behind her. She walked over and placed the box on the table. This time there was a card.

_She dreams in color,_  
_ But does she know that I love her?_  
_Cause I'm fighting with my confidence;_  
_ Build up my courage, give myself a chance_  
_ Because the only thing I think about is you._  
_ Do you know that I'm here?_  
_ Do I even exist?_  
_ I'd dance on velvet skies_  
_ For just the thought of one kiss._

"Another one?" Mulder questioned. He seemed more shocked than jealous this time.

Scully didn't reply. She unwrapped the present to reveal a box of dark chocolates.

"Mulder... I honestly feel a little uneasy about this. This person knows where I work _and _where I live. So, don't tease me."

Mulder did notice that Scully looked a little paler (if possible) than usual. "I'm sure it's just from Pendrell..." he said, trying to make her feel better. "Besides, free chocolate! Want me to try one to make sure that they're not poisoned?"

Before Scully could reply, Mulder grabbed a chocolate and popped it into his mouth. "Seems fine to me," he remarked, chomping away.

Scully rolled her eyes at him. "Are you jealous again?" she asked with a small smile.

"Hell yes! These are amazing! Are you still dieting? I can take these off your hands," he told her, taking two more chocolates and shoving one into his mouth.

Scully grabbed their plates and dumped them into the sink. Suddenly, Mulder started coughing and making choking sounds. In no time at all he was unconscious on the floor.

"Mulder!" Scully exclaimed, fear clear in her voice.

She dropped to her knees to check him out. He wasn't breathing.

"Mulder!" she cried again.

She positioned his head for CPR. She gave her first few breaths of mouth to mouth resuscitation. Soon Mulder's lips formed a smile under her lips.

"That was _too_ easy," he stated calmly.

"Mulder!" she exclaimed angrily, slapping him across the face. She quickly got up, crossed her arms, and glared down at him.

"I guess I deserved that," he admitted, rubbing his stinging cheek while he sat up and leaned back on his elbows.

"You do," she confirmed. "That was NOT funny!"

"It was a little funny..."

A glare from Scully shut him up.

"So... what do you want to do today?" he asked, changing the subject. Mulder also threw in one of his best smiles to make her forget his horrible prank.

It only kind of worked.

"I would like to figure out who is sending me this stuff!"

"Well, that is not going to happen. So... pick something that we _can_ do!"

Mulder got off of the floor and went over to the couch, looking for his shirt. Scully just watched him, not really thinking about appropriate plans to make with Mulder...

"Wanna go see a movie?" he asked, tossing a blanket aside.

Scully sighed. "Sure. I am going to change. Think about what you want to see."

"So, like a date?" he tried.

"No, Mulder," she replied, exasperated. She headed back to her room. "_Not_ like a date at all!"

Mulder finally found his shirt and tugged it over his head and back onto his body. He then grabbed the paper to search for a good movie to go see. He was determined to make Scully_ not_ try to figure out who sent her the flowers and chocolates. He, after all, had always been good at distracting her. Why stop now?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! Sorry for the hold up! Been working SOOO much. SO tired! Today I was finished early and don't have to work job deux; so here's a treat for all of you!

* * *

It had been a few days since the chocolates and the flowers. Since then, Scully had received more gifts. Some with and some without notes. They were all delivered to the office. Scully could tell that the presents were bothering Mulder just as much as they were bothering her!

"Okay, _partner_, you're going to help me figure out who is sending me this stuff! It's kind of creepy," Scully told Mulder on Thursday morning after receiving a gift basket of two bottles of wine, another small box of chocolates, and some crackers and cheeses.

"Have you asked Pendrell yet?" he questioned, eating a cracker from her gift basket.

"No... I don't want accuse someone. I want to figure out who it is first, and _then_ accuse them! Besides, I'm non-confrontational..." she told him.

Mulder snorted. "Riiight. _You're_ non-confrontational? To who? Not to me, that's for sure! Not to Skinner either."

"Anyway... Can we get back to the matter at hand? Are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course. I would love to know where this guy got all of this tasty food," Mulder said, nibbling a chocolate square.

"Stop. Eating! How are you not fat? All you do it eat!" Scully exclaimed.

"Great metabolism," he responded, shrugging.

"We could go back to the shops that these _gifts_ came from and ask if there is a payment receipt," Scully suggested, changing the subject.

"You think that they would turn over someone's personal details?"

"We _are_ the FBI, Mulder. We can act like this guy is a person of interest."

"You would abuse your authority to find a secret admirer, Scully?" Mulder asked shocked.

"Well, he's practically stalking me. I think that I have a right to know who is harassing me in this manner."

Mulder gave her an 'I don't believe you' look. "What if he paid with cash?" he challenged her brilliant plan.

"If he paid with cash then he had to do it in person. We could get a description of what he looks like. That way I'll at least know whether or not it's Pendrell."

"Fine. We'll go to the shops and see what we can find out," Mulder consented begrudgingly.

XXXXX

"Well, that was a waste of time!" Mulder said, flopping onto Scully's sofa. Scully paced in front of him.

"How come each shop had a different description of who purchased the gifts? I couldn't have _three_ different secret admirers!"

"You're asking me?" Mulder looked up at her. She nodded. "I think it's that alien bounty hunter. He can change what he looks like. And you two have had some close times together."

Scully stopped pacing and just stared at him. "Really? Mulder. Really! You're going to start with that crap?"

"It's a plausible theory," he defended his statement.

"Yeah, it's also plausible that the next time we run into that guy that I just may beg him to take you away!"

"Nah. You like me too much. Plus, I'm not a fan of anal probing-"

"Mulder!" Scully exclaimed, holding her hands up in a motion to shut him up. "Let's get back on topic."

"I am-"

"Let's get back to reality, then."

Mulder muttered something while playing with the button of his coat, and Scully chose to ignore him.

"If I were you," Mulder began, all teasing aside, "I would make a list of every guy that you know who _could _have sent you this things. Then you can narrow it down from there."

"That's not a bad idea," she admitted.

Mulder smiled. "Of course, Pendrell, Skinner, and Alien Bounty Hunter Guy should be the top three names on your list!"

Scully grabbed the nearest pillow and hit Mulder as hard as she could with it.

XXXXX

Saturday came around, and Scully was no closer than before with trying to figure out who her secret admirer was. However, Mulder had added several new people to her list. People like Smoking Man, Krycek, Sheriff Hartwell from the vampire case in Texas, and several females from the office. Needless to say, he was less than helpful.

The frustration of not being able to figure out something as simple as this made Scully go out for a Saturday morning run. Running always relieved her stress. Though, throughout her run she couldn't stop thinking about trying to figure this out. Obviously, this guy didn't want her to figure it out. He had apparently taken precautions as to prevent her from easily tracing the gifts back to him. Which kind of made her think that it could be someone like Krycek. That thought made her glance behind her every so often.

When she arrived back to her apartment, there was an envelope taped to her door.

_Another one!_ she thought, glancing around to see if she could catch the guy.

Once she was sure that there was no one in the hall besides herself, she ripped the card off of the door and went inside. Even though she was slightly uncomfortable with her secret admirer, she couldn't wait to see what the card said. She tore into the envelope like it was a Christmas present. She opened the card, and inside there was another poem:

_I have been searching for your touch  
Unlike any touch I've ever known  
And I never thought about it much  
Until I'm broken down and all alone  
Though I don't understand the meaning of love  
I do not mind if I die trying  
Took it for granted when you lifted me up  
I'm asking for your help  
I am going through hell  
Afraid nothing can save me but the sound of your voice  
You cut out all the noise  
I have been bound by the shackles of love  
And I don't mind if I die tied up_

"Oh, hey," Mulder's voice cut through her thoughts. He was leaning against her refrigerator.

"What are you doing here?" was the only thing her head could think to say as she walked into the kitchen.

"I knocked on your door, but you didn't answer. So I let myself in," he told her, pulling his keys out of his pocket and shook them at her.

"Is that a beer?" she asked him suddenly, noticing a brown bottle in his hand. "It's barely noon!"

"Good job, Agent Scully. It is, indeed, a beer."

"I'm not sure whether to be more upset about you breaking into my apartment, raiding my fridge, or drinking before lunchtime..."

"Hey, you let yourself into my place _all_ the time," he pointed out.

Scully looked back down at the card in her hand. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Did you see this when you came in? It was taped to my door."

"Uh... No," he told her, taking a drink of his beer.

"Did anyone knock? Did you hear anything?" she questioned further.

"Nope."

"Hmm..." Scully was deep in thought as Mulder walked up to her.

"What's it say?" he asked, reaching for it. She did, after all, let him read the first one.

However, Scully quickly pulled it to her chest and held it there. "I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" he asked, slightly offended.

Scully shrugged. "This one is more personal," she simply told him.

"Is it?" he asked, opening the refrigerator. He grabbed another beer, opened it, and slid it to her across the table.

"It is," she confirmed, smiling. She took a small sip and began to re-read the card.

"Hey, Scully?"he questioned to get her attention.

"Yeah?" she replied, looking up at him.

"Wanna play a game?" he said, smiling.

"What game do you want to play now, Mulder?" she asked, half amused and half nervous.

"Oh, a game you know. The game I taught you last weekend."

"I've Never?" she asked. He nodded. "Okay. I can handle that. _But_ not for too long. We don't need to be drinking as much as we did last time."

"Oh, it won't take long. I promise. I get to go first, though."

"Okay. Ask away!" Scully told him, taking a seat at the table.

Mulder sat down as well. He thought carefully on how to phrase his 'I've Never.'

"Okay. I got it. I've Never had a secret admirer."

"Oh, come on! That's so weak!" Scully told him, laughing. She brought the bottle up to her lips, but Mulder pushed the bottle back down to stop her.

"Uh-uh. You don't get to drink," he told her.

She would have laughed if it weren't for the serious look in his eyes.

"But I do-"

"No. You don't," he told her, so sure of himself.

Scully just stared at him, searching his eyes. She was confused.

"Me again. I've Never sent my best friend and partner gifts and then helped her to think that they were from a secret admirer," he told her, looking into her eyes. He then took a big gulp from his bottle.

"You? !" Scully exclaimed, completely astonished. "This was all you? !"

Mulder nodded.

Scully was, at first, angry at Mulder for letting her worry and search for over a week for a non-existent secret admirer. Then the fact that he was saying that he loved her and the words from the card connected with her mind. And just as quickly she was shocked again.

"Scully?" she could hear him question.

"So, you- you love me? As in romantically and not just as friends/partner/girl who saves your ass?" she finally managed to say.

Mulder smiled. "All of those things, but mostly as the girl who I can't stay away from and I want to kiss very very badly."

Without saying another word, Scully threw her arms around Mulder's neck and kissed him full on the lips. Mulder returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her and deepening the kiss. After a while they finally came up for air.

"I do hate you just a little bit. You know, for 'helping' me search for my secret admirer and adding names to the list of possibilities. I am so happy that I didn't take your advice to confront Pendrell."

"That would have been very amusing for me. All of it _was_ very amusing for me!" Mulder admitted.

"I only have one more question. Now don't get upset. This is just a precaution because it_ has _happened before..."

A slightly worried expression erased Mulder's smile. "Go on.."

"You're not the alien bounty hunter, are you?"

Mulder smiled and gave her another kiss. He then pulled back to reply, "You could take me to the bedroom to find out..."

Scully rolled her eyes but smiled. A new part of her life was starting. And she knew it was going to be just as- if not more- exciting as the past five years!

* * *

Poem by Adam Levine from the song "How" by Maroon 5.


End file.
